Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can observe structural and functional changes associated with cell and tissue development, facilitating the use of MRI in translational research and clinical trials of tissue engineering. One problem when applying MRI to tissue engineering is that samples allocated in a test tube for imaging cannot be returned back to incubators and are, therefore, wasted due to potential contamination. In addition, samples removed from the incubator for imaging and, therefore, are not under consistent growth conditions or environments. Thus, there is a need for an approach that allows the functional outcome of cell or tissue constructs to be monitored non-invasively without interrupting or disturbing the culture.